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Interview With Senator Bob Graham
Aired August 19, 2003 - 15:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to Senator Bob Graham of Florida, former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also a Democrat candidate for the presidential nomination. He joins us live on the telephone from New Hampshire.
Senator, you have been among those criticizing this president and this administration, suggesting it did not do the spadework, if you will, was not prepared for the postwar security challenge. Do you see a lesson, sir, in today's tragic bombing at the U.N. headquarters?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first, let me extend my condolences to all of the families which have been grievously affected by this act today.
I think the lesson that we can learn from this is that you need to do first things first. By shifting our attention from the terrorists in Afghanistan to the war in Iraq, we have allowed those terrorists to regenerate and now commit a series of very sophisticated attacks, several of which have been directed at U.S. troops and civilians. We don't know who will be held accountable for this, but it certainly appears to have the fingerprints of either al Qaeda or Hezbollah.
KING: Senator, is it your impression -- I think the number now is roughly 148,000, 150,000 Americans on the ground in Iraq. Based on what we've seen, this tragic bombing today, the targeting of the water main, the targeting of the pipeline, the oil pipeline, into Turkey, is it your view, sir, that there are enough boots on the ground to secure Iraq? Do we need more troops in there?
GRAHAM: Yes, but they don't need to be American troops.
In fact, we ought to move as quickly as possible to bring other nations of the world into this occupation of Iraq, enough that we can get the total troop strength up into the range of 200,000-plus and begin to provide some relief for our military personnel, many of whom have been there for more than six months, so that we can have a reasonable rotation period and give some relief to our troops that have performed so valiantly, but are no doubt tired. And they want to get home and see their loved ones.
KING: Senator Graham, as you well know, President Bush on May 1 said major combat operations were over. He seemed to amend that statement a bit in an interview with a military radio outlet the other day, saying, obviously, some combat continues.
I have a statement in front of me, sir, where you seem to think that the president is -- quote -- "misleading" Americans.
GRAHAM: Well, I think that the president failed in a fundamental element of leadership to let the American people know before the war in Iraq meant, what the consequences would be in terms of casualties, duration of occupation and cost.
But that's in the past. What the present should do immediately is to speak to the American people about the current conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. What's going to be required in order to stabilize those two countries and what is the president's plan to do so? Is it going to be to send more American troops, to not have a rotation of those who are already there, or will it be to change policy and attempt to get other nations more fully involved?
KING: Well, sir, that debate will continue, of course, over what happened yesterday and backwards.
Looking forward, if you were president today, you mentioned the need for more troops. It obviously takes time to coordinate with other nations to get other nations to send in troops, if that became the plan down the road. Would you send in more American troops today or what other steps might you take to try to improve security in Iraq?
GRAHAM: I would move immediately to ask NATO and the United Nations to pass resolutions which would give the necessary legal authorization for the members of those two international groups to commit troops to Iran and also to Iraq and also to Afghanistan.
Second is, we need to commit enough troops to provide the security that is obviously not available with the current number of troops there and, second, to give some relief to the thousands of U.S. military personnel who have been there long enough and need to be able to come home.
KING: Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, former chairman of the Intelligence Committee and among the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, sir, we thank you for joining us today live as you
(CROSSTALK)
GRAHAM: Thank you very much.
KING: Thank you, sir.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 19, 2003 - 15:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go now to Senator Bob Graham of Florida, former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, also a Democrat candidate for the presidential nomination. He joins us live on the telephone from New Hampshire.
Senator, you have been among those criticizing this president and this administration, suggesting it did not do the spadework, if you will, was not prepared for the postwar security challenge. Do you see a lesson, sir, in today's tragic bombing at the U.N. headquarters?
SEN. BOB GRAHAM (D-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first, let me extend my condolences to all of the families which have been grievously affected by this act today.
I think the lesson that we can learn from this is that you need to do first things first. By shifting our attention from the terrorists in Afghanistan to the war in Iraq, we have allowed those terrorists to regenerate and now commit a series of very sophisticated attacks, several of which have been directed at U.S. troops and civilians. We don't know who will be held accountable for this, but it certainly appears to have the fingerprints of either al Qaeda or Hezbollah.
KING: Senator, is it your impression -- I think the number now is roughly 148,000, 150,000 Americans on the ground in Iraq. Based on what we've seen, this tragic bombing today, the targeting of the water main, the targeting of the pipeline, the oil pipeline, into Turkey, is it your view, sir, that there are enough boots on the ground to secure Iraq? Do we need more troops in there?
GRAHAM: Yes, but they don't need to be American troops.
In fact, we ought to move as quickly as possible to bring other nations of the world into this occupation of Iraq, enough that we can get the total troop strength up into the range of 200,000-plus and begin to provide some relief for our military personnel, many of whom have been there for more than six months, so that we can have a reasonable rotation period and give some relief to our troops that have performed so valiantly, but are no doubt tired. And they want to get home and see their loved ones.
KING: Senator Graham, as you well know, President Bush on May 1 said major combat operations were over. He seemed to amend that statement a bit in an interview with a military radio outlet the other day, saying, obviously, some combat continues.
I have a statement in front of me, sir, where you seem to think that the president is -- quote -- "misleading" Americans.
GRAHAM: Well, I think that the president failed in a fundamental element of leadership to let the American people know before the war in Iraq meant, what the consequences would be in terms of casualties, duration of occupation and cost.
But that's in the past. What the present should do immediately is to speak to the American people about the current conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan. What's going to be required in order to stabilize those two countries and what is the president's plan to do so? Is it going to be to send more American troops, to not have a rotation of those who are already there, or will it be to change policy and attempt to get other nations more fully involved?
KING: Well, sir, that debate will continue, of course, over what happened yesterday and backwards.
Looking forward, if you were president today, you mentioned the need for more troops. It obviously takes time to coordinate with other nations to get other nations to send in troops, if that became the plan down the road. Would you send in more American troops today or what other steps might you take to try to improve security in Iraq?
GRAHAM: I would move immediately to ask NATO and the United Nations to pass resolutions which would give the necessary legal authorization for the members of those two international groups to commit troops to Iran and also to Iraq and also to Afghanistan.
Second is, we need to commit enough troops to provide the security that is obviously not available with the current number of troops there and, second, to give some relief to the thousands of U.S. military personnel who have been there long enough and need to be able to come home.
KING: Senator Bob Graham, Democrat of Florida, former chairman of the Intelligence Committee and among the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, sir, we thank you for joining us today live as you
(CROSSTALK)
GRAHAM: Thank you very much.
KING: Thank you, sir.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
